Shot-at Hampton Motorist Follows Suspect, Calls Police

May 17, 2000|By DAVID CHERNICKY Daily Press

HAMPTON — A Hampton motorist, shot at early Tuesday, followed the suspect's pickup truck to a convenience store, where police arrested the driver.

Hampton police found the driver of the 1997 Nissan pickup standing outside the 7-Eleven on Executive Drive shortly before 1 a.m., Sgt. Jeff Walden said. The motorist had called police on a cellular telephone while trailing the suspect.

Nicholas Alan Sullivan, 21, of the 1500 block of Wyndham Drive, Hampton, was charged with shooting at an occupied vehicle, shooting from an occupied vehicle, attempted maiming and using a firearm in a felony. Police also charged Sullivan with public drunkenness.

The motorist, a 31-year-old former Marine and area college student from Newport News, said he was driving his 1991 Mazda north on Big Bethel Road just after midnight. The man asked that his name not be used out of fear of reprisal.

He said the Nissan pulled out in front of him from a residential street near Michaels Woods.

"I saw someone in the truck pointing something at me. I couldn't tell what it was," the man said. "At that point, I didn't think anything about it."

Both vehicles turned right onto Hampton Roads Center Parkway.

The Mazda driver estimated that he was within 150 feet of the truck when it suddenly slowed and switched lanes erratically.

"I thought he was drunk," the victim said.

He said he also slowed down to stay behind the truck because he was afraid that the pickup would switch lanes and hit his car.

He watched the pickup continue east at the slow pace and then heard the first in a series of gunshots. He also saw the muzzle flash in the rear window of the truck.

"I was about 25 yards behind him," the man said. "At first, I thought it was just blanks. It was pretty loud."

He said he picked up his cell phone and called 911 with a description of the truck. The motorist said he followed the truck from Hampton Roads Center Parkway to Coliseum Drive and Marcella Road, then to Executive Drive, where officers arrested Sullivan.

The Mazda owner learned minutes later that two bullets had struck the front of his car. "This was irritating me because he shot my car over nothing," he said. "I had no contact whatsoever with him. I think it was just being at the wrong place and the wrong time."

After police arrested Sullivan, officers searched the cab of the pickup. Walden said they recovered four or five empty casings and a loaded Ruger .45- caliber semiautomatic pistol under the seat.

Walden said detectives thought that the shooting was random and unprovoked.

Sullivan was jailed without bail.

David Chernicky can be reached at 247-4743 or by e-mail at dchernicky@dailypress.com